Indian Premier League organisers are looking to acquire 80 bullet-proof cars and buses to transport players as they seek to secure government clearance for this year's tournament.

The IPL, scheduled to take place from 10 April to 24 May, has yet to be given home ministry approval after security concerns escalated in the wake of the attack on the Sri Lankan team in neighbouring Pakistan.

The Indian Express reported the IPL had said it needed 64 bullet-proof cars and 16 buses and wanted them within 15 days, while the Times of India reported the IPL's South African security consultants had approached an Indian company.

"This is a recommendation that has been given to us. We're looking into it and we're hoping we will manage it," the Indian Express quoted an unnamed league official as saying.

"The IPL management approached us last week for this order," Sanchit Sobti, a director of Laggar Industries, told the Express. "We have not accepted it yet as they're giving us too little time to execute this project.

"It takes at least two months to armour a vehicle, and they want us to bullet-proof 64 cars and 16 buses in a fortnight," he said. "We need some five months to execute that kind of order. A hurried, shoddy job is neither our sort of work, nor is it desirable since it is a sensitive issue and would hit our credibility in case of a security lapse."

The IPL organisers were also trying to hire bullet-proof vehicles, but they are mainly used by politicians, who have their own security concerns while campaigning for India's general election, which starts on 16 April.

Six Sri Lankan players were injured and seven Pakistanis killed when gunmen ambushed the team bus in Lahore earlier this month.